VFacts November 2013

[Road_Warrior]

Prelim commentary from Drivel and numbers from Dowlstick

http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor...202-2yllp.html

The Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon led a sales bounce by Australian-made cars in November to give the struggling industry some rare good news as it presents to the Productivity Commission about ongoing financial and regulatory assistance.

The Falcon and its Territory SUV offshoot experienced their best sales for 2013, according to still secret sales figures obtained by Fairfax Media, while Holden’s VF Commodore continued its strong showing on the back of the major model update and associated marketing push.

The figures will no doubt be a relief to Ford Australia president Bob Graziano, who last week reaffirmed his commitment to local production until October 2016, which is the date the company said it would shut the doors of its Broadmeadows manufacturing line after almost a century of vehicle production.

“Our intent is to continue manufacturing in Australia until October 2016, which should allow the industry to transition at that point,” he told Drive last week.

“That still remains the intent and we’ll continue to move that way. We’ve got the refreshment coming up next year for both Falcon and Territory and we’re progressing with that work as well.”

Production capacity at Ford’s Broadmeadows factory has fallen to 148 vehicles per day – a 30 per cent reduction on last year’s manufacturing figures.

Asked whether he expects a ramping up of production to coincide with the updated Falcon and Territory models, Graziano said: “again it will be dependent on the demand from the marketplace”.

With about 3100 sales the Commodore, a long time former top seller, still managed only the fifth best-selling position behind a trio of small cars – the Toyota Corolla (3890), Mazda3 (3670) and Hyundai i30 (3160) - and the ever-popular Toyota Hilux ute (3370).

Once again, if Hyundai’s Elantra sedan shared its badge with the hatchback version of the same car – the i30 – the duo would be comfortably the best sellers for the month, with more than 4000 sales.

The relatively strong showing by the Falcon and Commodore – their sales are still a fraction of the lofty figures they achieved a decade or so ago – helped give Australian-made cars a comparatively healthy 12.6 per cent market share, the strongest for the year so far and well ahead of the 8.0 per cent low recorded in January.

Those sales are also certain to ensure locally-produced cars don’t drop below 10 per cent share for the first time, something that was on the cards prior to the November sales figures.

Despite industry predictions of a sales bounce following the failed Labor government bid to abolish favourable tax breaks on company vehicles, the new-car market slid further, with about 95,000 sales in November, compared with 98,347 for 2012.

But the 3 per cent drop hasn’t slowed the market from rocketing to another record sales year; in 2012 there were 1.11 million new vehicles sold and the 2013 sales volume is on target for about 1.13 million.

Mazda’s CX-5 was again the best selling SUV in November, with about 1700 sales, ahead of rivals such as the Toyota RAV4 (1560) Subaru Forester (1520), and Hyundai ix35 (1450)

Another strong performer includes the Mitsubishi Triton, which slipped into the top 10 seller list (1700 sales) courtesy of a strong marketing campaign.
Following concerns about quality Volkswagen also experienced a sales boost, with sales for the month up 32 per cent.

VW’s sales were bolstered by a strong showing from the new Golf, which preliminary figures show was the seventh best-selling vehicle for the month, with almost 2100 sales.

Top sellers: Corolla (3895), Mazda3 (3665), HiLux (3365), Hyundai i30 (3160), Commodore (3100), Camry (2375), Ranger (2015), VW Golf (2070)